THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR
US, 1975, 94 minutes, Colour.
Yul Brynner, Max Von Sydow, Joanna Miles, William Smith, Stephen Mc Hattie.
Directed by Robert Clouse.
Robert Clouse has directed many action films, including the striking 'Enter the Dragon'. He now uses this flair in a futuristic fable reminiscent of 1Soylent Green'. Early next century, New York is a ruin inhabited by pockets of people, some gangs, some more civilised groups living feudally under such leaders as The Baron (Max von Sydow). All are starving. Primitive instincts of hate and violence prevail. Strong men (like the hero, Yul Brynner) are in demand as protectors. The screenplay portrays a pessimistic vision and a critique of the present which is to be devastated by war and plague, and presents a grim picture of human nature. A worthwhile fable.
1. Expectations from the title? Battles and wars? Ultimate and the end of the world? The appeal of science fiction, the anticipation of the future, the interpretation of the present? Pessimism concerning the future? The moral for the present?
2. Colour photography and imaginative presentation of the future? The sets, decor, New York and ruins? The musical score?
3. The anticipation of New York in the year 2012? The credits, the visuals, the squalor, isolation, terror? The grim future of the cities? Devastation, depopulation, plagues and famines, the struggle for survival?
4. The way this was illustrated with the opening and the group clashes, the killings, the lynching? The purpose of survival - fear, fighting? Food? Madness, ill health? The survival of the human race?
5. The violence of Carrot and his gang? Their style, personalities, the bonds together? Their motivation? The villains of the piece? Their being painted in black?
6. The Baron and the survival of the past? His character and personality, his leadership of the group? His assistance? The traitor and the repercussions for the group and survival and peace? His daughter Melinda, her pregnancy and hope for the future? Cal and his horticultural work? The need to make the air fresh, to destroy the poisons? A microcosm of a primitive society and the hope for growth with the links of the past?
7. The importance of the theme of horticulture, vegetables, growth and health? A treasure for this kind of world?
8. The presentation of pestilence and plagues, the lack of food, the repercussions on human stamina? On the mind and its evil?
9. Yul Brynner as Carson? Strength, stances? His appearance? His background? The Baron's daring in approaching the warrior? His proposition for protection? Carson and his strong-man help? The healthy strong man within this society?
10. The character of Carson - his background, story? The experience of death, the island, visions? His desire for help?
11. The Baron and his moral decisions about survival? His goodness yet allowing deaths? His plan for the future and his family? His disappointments? Reliance on Carson, clashes with Carrot? Provisions for his daughter and Cal? The repercussions of Cal's death? His own death for the survival of the future?
12. Carrot and the ugly evil - his killing the couple, the child, the clashes with the warrior, the fights, the attempts to lure the warrior into battle, his raids especially on the vegetables?
13. Melinda and Cal and the hope for the family of the future? Cal's death? Melinda and her pregnancy - the mother of the living?
14. The final action - the Baron's death, his sacrifice, Carson and his leading the mother and child to the future? The death of Carrot in the duel? The seeds taken for the growth of the future?
15. The success of the film on the popular action level with the overtones of martial arts action?
